Seattle NAACP Leader Accuses White Cops Of “Coldblooded Murder”

The civil rights group disputes the police account of the shooting caught on video.

Another controversy has emerged over the police killing of a Black man. Civil rights leaders in Seattle reject the official police version of the shooting and are raising their voices in protest.

At a recent press conference, Seattle King County NAACP President Gerald Hankerson called the killing a “coldblooded murder,” the Seattle Times reports.

According to authorities, police officers were conducting surveillance Sunday afternoon. They observed what appeared to be a drug deal and identified a known felon, Che Andre Taylor, 47, with a holstered gun, the Times says.

A police dash cam video appears to show Taylor standing at the passenger door of a vehicle when officers approached him with their guns drawn. The officers are heard yelling “hands up” and ordering him to get on the ground.

The police and a civilian witness said Taylor did not follow their orders and reached for his gun, which they later recovered. Authorities said that’s when two officers opened fire. Taylor died from his gunshot wounds at Harborview Medical Center.

The Times reports that Hankerson became angry when disputing the police’s interpretation of the video. He believes it shows Taylor putting his hands in the air. But the video records Taylor’s actions from the driver’s side of the vehicle, so it’s unclear whether he tried to surrender.

“It was clear to me that they come with the intent to kill, not to arrest,” Hankerson said, according to the newspaper.

James Bible, the attorney representing Taylor’s family and the civil rights group, said at the news conference that the police are likely withholding other videos that contradict their account. He’s calling for an outside investigation, according to the Times.

The police identified the two officers involved as Michael Spaulding and Scott Miller. They are on paid administrative leave while the police investigation is ongoing.